Maritime Provinces Higher Education Commission

Nobody is unpredictable

Maritime Provinces Higher Education Commission

Mobility in the Maritimes: How Students Progress Through Their First

University Degree

PCCAT, Charlottetown, PEIJune 20th, 2018

www.cespm.cawww.mphec.ca

About the MPHEC

Our Board

• 20 members, representing our stakeholders across NB, NS and PEI:

• Universities• Government &

non-government leaders

• Students• Public-at-large

Accountability

• Maritime Ministers responsible for postsecondary education in the Maritimes through CAMET

Core Functions

• Quality Assurance

• Data and information

• Cooperative Action

• Administration of interprovincial agreements

• Services to provinces by request


About the MPHEC

Mandate:“In carrying out its duties, the Commission must give first consideration to improving and maintaining the best possible service to students as lifelong learners”


Student Progress and Outcomes

How many students persist in university? At their university of first entry or anywhere in the

MaritimesHow many students graduate within 4 years, 6 years?How long does it take to complete a first degree?What is the impact of switching institution or

program/discipline on time to degree?What are the impacts of taking longer to complete a first

degree?


15 Maritime universities

New Brunswick4 Nova Scotia

10

Prince Edward Island1

70,000 students• 60,000 undergraduate• 10,000 graduate

4 Colleges

1 College

2 Colleges

+ 7 Maritime colleges


Origin of Students in Maritime Universities


Data Source: MPHEC PSIS Database 1999-2000 to 2016-2017

• Institution description• Program information• Course information

Institutional Level Data

• Demographic• Program information• Course information• Transfer credits

Student Level Data

• Program funding weight• MPHEC program approval code• MPHEC Field of Study • Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) codes• K-12/P-12 Provincial Student Identifier• Student Transfer File (17 elements; previously part of StatCan’s PSIS)

MPHEC-Specific PSIS Elements


Probabilistic approach: Estimates the likelihood of matching

• Involves 13 data elements

Institution IdStudent IdSurnameFirst NameMiddle NamePrevious surnameGender

BirthdateSocial Insurance NumberPermanent Postal CodePermanent AddressPermanent PhoneCurrent Phone

MPHEC PSIS Record Linkage

• Can tolerate common data problems - typographic errors, missing data, inconsistent spelling / nicknames, changing addresses, etc.


0

20

40

60

80

100

120

0 10000 20000 30000 40000 50000 60000 70000

Link

age

scor

e

Link ID

Good match

No

Grayzone

• Automatically detects 95-98% of potential matches• Uncertain matches – need to be reviewed• Note: siblings receive high linkage scores




Individual PSE history is available for every university student in the Maritimes since 1999: • Maritime universities attended• Programs taken• Courses taken• Credentials granted

The MPHEC longitudinal PSIS database currently covers: • 17 years of longitudinal data • 1.5 million student records • 500 000 individuals


Cohort – First time full time students

Cohort size9,799

10,00911,2799,8609,6599,2969,3189,6649,5189,5739,8079,5009,5509,262


Student progression at the system-level

2006 cohort ( n = 9,296)First time, full-time bachelor studentsAll Maritime universities combinedAll programs combined


Persistence rates at the institution of first entry and system-level

Cohort: First time, full-time bachelor students; All Maritime universities combined

Persistence rate: The percent of the cohort that re-enrols at any Maritime university, in the fall term in subsequent years, regardless of registration status or field of study.


Graduation Rate at the institution of first entry and system level

First time, full-time bachelorstudents; All Maritime universitiescombined

Graduation rate: The percent of the cohort that completes any degree at any Maritime university within x years. The measure is cumulative.


Definition:

• Time measured in years from the year of first entry to the graduation year.• Measured as elapsed time and not time enrolled.

Cohort:

• First-time, full-time students enrolled in a bachelor’s program in the fall term of the cohort year.

• Graduating from an undergraduate degree at any Maritime university within 8 years.

Characterizing Educational Pathways in Maritime Universities

Measure : Time-to-Degree


The 2007 cohort after 8 years


Number of years to complete a first university degree (system-level)

First time, full-time students who graduatedfrom any degree and from any Maritime

university within 8 years

Average TTD

4.59 years


Students who do not switch program or do not transfer to anotheruniversity are more likely to complete a degree within 4 years


23% of graduates switched university and/or field of study

Switching University orFOS

adds 0.6 to 0.7 years Switching Universityand FOS

adds 1.2 year

First time, full-time students who graduated from any degree and from any Maritime university within 8 years


91% of Maritime graduates complete their degree at their university of first entry; 9% complete at another Maritime university

New Brunswick4

Nova Scotia10

Prince Edward Island

1

6% of graduatescompleted a degreeat a differentuniversity in the same province

3% of graduatescompleted theirdegree in a differentprovince


19% of graduates switched field of study (FOS)

39% of students enrolling in Sciences and Mathematics graduate in a different FOS

FOS at graduation

FOS based on CIP primary groupings


Half of male graduates take more than four years to complete first degree



Cumulative degree completion rate by gender, 2007 cohortn = 6,351 graduates


Average TTD by Field of Study and Gender


Student studying closer to home take longer to complete their first degree




Why measure time-to-degree?

Optimize program design/requirements:Taking longer to complete an equivalent degree at

different universities because of extra credit requirements.

Inform policy decisions: Tuition policy Facilitating the transfer of credits between institutionsTimely completion benefit

Cost to taking longer: Higher debt load


Student Background, Time-to-degree, and graduate outcomes


Student Background, Time-to-degree, and graduate outcomes


How full-time are “full-time” students?

Full-time = 60% of a normal course loadIncludes:HASS in NS, PE and NB.Business in NS and PESciences in NS and PEn = 6,728

96%: Technically “full-time” for the year for enrolment, tuition, funding, student loans

64.3%: students with a full course load. Enrolled with enough credits to graduateon time.


Filling the gaps : integrating college data


Time-to-degree

GenderStudent origin

Parent Educational Attainment

Switching programSwitchingInstitution

InstitutionProgram

Field of study

Co-opYear Abroad

Living in residenceLiving at home

Working while studying

Part-time studiesStop-out

Course load

Failing coursesEnrolling in

summer term

Many factors affect time-to-degreeLo

ngitu

dina

l Lin

ked

PSIS

GO

* Sur

vey

*MPHEC Graduate Outcome Survey


www.mphec.ca

www.cespm.ca

Documents

Maritime Provinces Higher Education Commission